Similar Posts

  • |

    #248 Finding Growth in Frowns

    Frowns carry questions. Puzzles. Uncertainty on the edge of understanding.

    “I don’t understand – yet.”

    Sometimes they also carry dismissal.

    “I don’t agree – why?”

    Most of all, frowns symbolize a struggle, a moment of dissonance between what we know and what we encounter.

    Balancing on the edge of comprehension or dismissively pushing away the unfamiliar…

    This is where insights are born.

  • | | |

    #61 Talent vs discipline

    In all his life Picasso produced about 147,800 pieces, consisting of: 13,500 paintings, 100,000 prints and engravings, 300 sculptures and ceramics and 34,000 illustrations – an impressive 78-year career.

    https://www.pablopicasso.org/picasso-facts.jsp

    13,500 paintings; that’s almost 37 years of producing a painting, every single day.

    How good would you be if you had painted daily for 37 years?

    Maybe still not as good as Picasso. Or maybe better. Hard to tell, because while many people might be born with talent, few people have the discipline to combine it with that level of discipline.

  • | |

    #16 The insights have always been here

    Creativity isn’t about inventing new concepts, thoughts, pieces of art or machines out of thin air.

    It’s not even making new connections between unrelated concepts.

    Creativity is exposing connections that have always been there but nobody has noticed before.

    Again: the connections have always been there. The hard part is noticing them.

    That requires presence. Slowing down. Taking a step back. Asking “Where have I seen this before?”. Trusting your mind for doing what it does best: recognizing patterns. Paying attention. Sometimes, paying no attention at all and letting the breakout principle work its magic.

    This view of creativity can set you free from a lifetime of frustration
    because once life becomes one big exploration
    where every detour, every diversion, every event
    no matter how unimportant or seemingly insignificant
    holds the promise of a new insight
    a new breakthrough, a connection to stumble upon…

    And once the crushing pressure – invent something you must
    disappears, turns to dust
    replaced by curiosity and wanderlust
    then you can slow down, enjoy the present moment, and trust
    that everything you ever wanted to know, feel, see, hear
    every insight or desire you hold dear
    has always been here
    hidden in plain view, underneath the world’s veneer.

  • #546 The easiest path to where you want to go

    The easiest path is to miss all days – you never get going in the first place so you don’t know what you’re missing.

    The second easiest is to never miss a day – you’ll get where you want to go with little detours, even if you pay the cost of discipline.

    The hardest (and most common) path is to miss a couple of days here and there – now you run the risk of getting lost.

    We all miss a day sometimes – so we all get a little lost once in a while.

    So what do we do?

    We remind ourselves why we got started.

    We remind ourselves where we’re going.

    We remind ourselves that we’ve been lost before – and that we can always get back on track.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *